Despite its importance in Byrd’s sacred output, the Great
Service has surprisingly few recordings. Arkivmusic.com lists
just two additional performances: The Tallis Scholars, conducted
by Peter Phillips on Gimell, and the Westminster Abby Choir
under James O’Donnell on Hyperion. As one might expect,
The Tallis Scholars’ performance is strikingly beautiful,
though the beauty is sometimes achieved at the expense of fervent
expression of the words. O’Donnell and his Westminster
Abbey Choir earned several glowing reviews (see
review), and, as in the present recording, intersperse the
many parts of the service with anthems and motets in English.

Discovered in 1922 in Durham Cathedral, The Great Service divides
into three sections: Matins, Communion and Evensong. Featuring
two five-part choirs, Byrd’s love of timbral and textural
contrast is readily apparent. Simon Raven, in his authoritative
notes, argues that the music has a “kaleidoscopic character”
that is well suited to the addition of the Cornet and Sackbut
players. Noting that there is no definitive original performing
score that tells us how and when Byrd performed the music, Raven
writes that “the nature of Renaissance music, as it was
written, deliberately encouraged multiple approaches”.
Having digested these points of performance practice, I settled
in expecting a more robust account of the music that would enhance
the expressive power of Byrd’s music.

The program begins with a beguiling instruments-only performance
of the motet Constitues eos. The players offer fabulously
refined playing, with a rich burnished timbre that instantly
creates a mood of regal solemnity. Yet with the initial vocal
entries of the Venite, doubts began to creep in. The
overall quality of the singing is fine, but rarely more than
that. Diction is inconsistent throughout. There are passages
where the choir seems fully engaged and they sing with a textual
intensity that brings the sentiment of the text alive. Most
often this occurs in the anthems and motets - perhaps because
they are more standard repertoire for these singers? Yet, at
other times the singers seem to be on auto-pilot, and the text’s
meaning simply doesn’t come across. There are also a few
moments of questionable tuning that were unexpected - I cannot
recall any such issues on their Palestrina recordings for the
same label. The excellence of the instrumental playing only
serves to highlight these vocal issues.

Yet these are minor quibbles that I could easily tolerate, even
with repeated listening. What proved most frustrating was the
combination of instruments and voices. I expected this would
heighten the “kaleidoscopic character” about which
Raven wrote, yet it rarely did, in large part because the use
of the instruments is not handled imaginatively. Basically the
full consort plays colla parte with the voice throughout
the entire piece of music, throughout the CD. Surely there are
moments where the choir could sing unaccompanied, and then,
in the final bars of a piece, add the instrumentalists to make
the last phrase more overwhelming? Having just listened to the
Gabrieli Consort’s “New Venetian Coronation”
recording, one of its many strengths is how creatively the instruments
accompany the singers. McCreesh and his forces sometimes seem
to find more color and contrast in the music than one would
think possible. Byrd’s Great Service is indeed filled
with a kaleidoscope of changing colors and textures, and the
addition of instruments should only heighten that effect. Sadly,
that never happens, and as a result I came away from this experience
underwhelmed.

Part of the blame may lie with the recording. This music - especially
with the addition of a wind consort - seems tailor-made for
a larger space than was used here. The recording engineers have
captured a nice bloom around the voices and instruments, allowing
a great amount of inner detail to emerge. Yet the space seems
to confine the sound, with climaxes somewhat constricted, or
held in check. Surely the ending of the Magnificat should
be a transcendent moment, an explosion of joyous sound: here,
it is perfectly manicured, but remains stubbornly earthbound.

I enjoyed this performance more than the version done by The
Tallis Scholars. I have not heard the Westminster Abbey recording.
However, in October Hyperion is releasing another CD of The
Great Service, this one by the Cardinall’s Musick, led
by Andrew Carwood. These same forces have already recorded a
stunning 13-CD series of Byrd’s Latin Church Music for
ASV Gaudeamus and Hyperion, in which they demonstrated a complete
mastery of Byrd’s music. Perhaps it is best to wait until
October.

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